Photo, above: The Passenger Pigeon or Wild Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) is an extinct North American bird. The species lived in enormous migratory flocks until the early 20th century, when hunting and habitat destruction led to its demise. One flock in 1866 in southern Ontario was described as being 1 mi (1.5 km) wide and 300 mi (500 km) long, took 14 hours to pass, and held in excess of 3.5 billion birds. That number, if accurate, would likely represent a large fraction of the entire population at the time. Some estimate 3 to 5 billion Passenger Pigeons were in the United States when Europeans arrived in North America. Others argue the species had not been common in the pre-Columbian period, but their numbers grew when devastation of the American Indian population by European diseases led to reduced competition for food. The species went from being one of the most abundant birds in the world during the 19th century to extinction early in the 20th century. At the time, Passenger Pigeons had one of the largest groups or flocks of any animal, second only to the Rocky Mountain locust.

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Hour One

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 1, Block A:  Jim McTague, Barron's Washington, in re: Crimea and Washington.

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 1, Block B:  Liz Peek, The Fiscal Times, in re: Polls and mid-term elections.

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 1, Block C:  Susan Burfield,  in re: Restoration Hardware.

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 1, Block D:  Markos Koulinilakis, Hoover, in re: Ukraine.

Hour Two

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 2, Block A:  Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re: Balance of Ukraine between Russia and EU (1 of 2)

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 2, Block B:  Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re: Balance of Ukraine between Russia and EU (2 of 2)

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 2, Block C:  Nathan Rich, NYT, in re:  the de-extinction park – a sort of amusement park

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 2, Block D:  Coral Davenport, NYT, in re:  the importance of sulphur in our air

Hour Three

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 3, Block A:  Gene Marks, NYT, in re:  small business and staffing; the jobs report.

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 3, Block B:  Sebastian Gorka, FDD, in re:  Ukraine.

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 3, Block C:  Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, in re: Minimum wage and federal contractors (1 of 2).

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 3, Block D: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, in re: Minimum wage and federal contractors (2 of 2).

Hour Four

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 4, Block A:  John Tamny, Forbes,com, in re: Libertarianism:  Justin Amash. 

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 4, Block B:  Claudia Rosett, FDD, in re: The Amazing Coincidences of Iran's Javad Zarif   On Wednesday, in the Red Sea, Israeli commandos intercepted a freighter carrying a secret cargo of munitions loaded in Iran and hidden under bags of cement. The weaponry included dozens of Syrian-made M-302 rockets which Israeli authorities say were bound for terrorists in Gaza, and from there would have been capable of striking almost anywhere in Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The next day, Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, ridiculed the munitions seizure, implying it was a public relations stunt tied to the annual meeting in Washington of a pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, at which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a speaker. Sending out a sarcastic note on Twitter, Zarif wrote” “An Iranian ship carrying arms for Gaza. Captured just in time for annual AIPAC anti Iran campaign. Amazing Coincidence! Or same failed lies.”

If Zarif is troubled by the timing, his real quarrel ought to be with his Iranian cohorts who dispatched the weapons. Instead, he’s trying to cover for them — turning the arms seizure into a game of they-said we-said. That’s a dark portent for the Iran nuclear talks, at which Zarif is serving as Iran’s chief negotiator, pledging Iran’s “good faith.” But Zarif does have one thing right. The time lines surrounding this shipment are intriguing. Not least, they provide a rich context for the recent diplomatic activities of Zarif himself, including his smiling presence at last month’s round of nuclear talks in Vienna. From details of this latest Iranian munitions-smuggling saga, it can be gleaned that while Zarif was in Vienna, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, reading a statement to the press about their “very productive” nuclear talks, the freighter, secretly stuffed with weapons, was already enroute from Iran toward the Red Sea. If Zarif knew anything about this, that’s damning. If he was clueless, that’s alarming. Which is it? . . .

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 4, Block C:  Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re:  Hubble and asteroids

Friday  7 March   2014 / Hour 4, Block D:  Karen Weise, Bloomberg, in re: marijuana illegally sold in Colorado.

Engraving, below: Passenger Pigeons.

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Music

Hour 1:  Three Musketeers. Gangs of New York.  Three Hundred.

Hour 2:  Three Hundred.  Jurassic Park.  Salt. 

Hour 3:  Rush.  Constantine.  Season of the Witch. 

Hour 4:  Collateral.  Empire Total War.  Serenity.  The Recruit.